Mark Skinner Libraryhttp://markskinnerlibrary.org
Just another WordPress siteFri, 14 Nov 2014 12:15:15 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Video launch party and drumming circle at 4:00 on Saturday!http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/11/10/movie-at-the-new-library-november-11-at-630-p-m/
http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/11/10/movie-at-the-new-library-november-11-at-630-p-m/#commentsMon, 10 Nov 2014 15:34:16 +0000http://markskinnerlibrary.org/?p=4691Saragail Benjamin will lead a video launch party and drumming circle. This fun event at 4 p.m. will cap off Manchester Community Library’s Grand Opening Celebration, which starts at 11 a.m. with a ribbon cutting.

With the help of a number of local residents, Benjamin created “Deep Down,” a video aimed at helping kids who are facing cancer and other serious illnesses. Come see yourself and/or your neighbors in this lively and professionally produced video. Everyone will have the chance to participate in a dynamic drumming circle.
Enjoy complimentary cake and punch.

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]]>http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/11/10/4687/feed/0Amazing Work!http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/10/20/amazing-work/
http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/10/20/amazing-work/#commentsMon, 20 Oct 2014 11:21:59 +0000http://markskinnerlibrary.org/?p=4631This is Bob Gasparetti’s workshop, where our maple tree that did not survive construction is being transformed into the laptop bar off the Commons area in the new building. He is doing such a great job!

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]]>http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/09/26/4586/feed/0Why First Wednesdays? Because Ideas Matter.http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/09/16/why-first-wednesdays-because-ideas-matter/
http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/09/16/why-first-wednesdays-because-ideas-matter/#commentsTue, 16 Sep 2014 20:11:18 +0000http://markskinnerlibrary.org/?p=4574On the first Wednesday of the month, from October through May, people gather at nine First Wednesday sites throughout Vermont, exploring thought-provoking topics that educate, enrich, and inspire. This top-notch lecture series – an initiative of the Vermont Humanities Council- is hosted in Manchester by the library. “We are so grateful to the Humanities Council for bringing speakers of regional and national renown to Manchester,” stated Linda McKeever, MSL board president.

Attendance numbers for the Manchester First Wednesdays series have been through the roof for the last couple of years. Of the nine FW sites, Manchester has led the field in highest overall attendance and highest average monthly attendance for the past two seasons. “We are victims of our own success,” noted McKeever. “Attendance records have been so high that we will have to continue to offer the series at the First Congregational Church to accommodate everyone.”

On October 1 at 7 p.m., distinguished veteran diplomat George Jaeger will consider the similarities between the run-up to the first World War and current geopolitics in his talk, “A Century after World War I: Are We Sleepwalking Again?”

It’s been said that in 1914 Europe sleepwalked into a war no one wanted. Jaeger will examine the conditions leading to World War I and consider whether current geopolitics might play out similarly.

Jaeger’s career spanned the Cold War and beyond. After early assignments in Liberia and Tito’s Yugoslavia he served in the US Mission in Berlin, negotiated the non-proliferation treaty in Bonn and covered east-west relations in Paris. Among his most challenging assignments were his three years as Staff Director of the President’s Advisory Commission on Arms Control and Disarmament, his stint as a senior negotiator of the Helsinki Final Act in Geneva, and his final tour as Deputy Assistant Secretary General of NATO and Chairman of the Alliance’s Political Committee under Lord Carrington in Brussels.

Since retiring, Jaeger has been an international consultant, supervised elections in postwar Bosnia and Kosovo, and has continued to teach and lecture frequently on foreign affairs.

The Vermont Department of Libraries is the statewide underwriter of First Wednesdays. Mark Skinner Library is sponsored by The Perfect Wife Restaurant and Tavern, The Spiral Press Café, and Vermont Renewable Fuels. “A Century after World War I” is underwritten by Keelan Family Foundation.

]]>http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/09/16/why-first-wednesdays-because-ideas-matter/feed/0“Follow the Yellow Brick Road: The New Way to Travel around Your Library”http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/08/19/follow-the-yellow-brick-road-the-new-way-to-travel-around-your-library/
http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/08/19/follow-the-yellow-brick-road-the-new-way-to-travel-around-your-library/#commentsTue, 19 Aug 2014 19:33:52 +0000http://markskinnerlibrary.org/?p=4527For over 145 years, the Dewey Decimal Classification system (DDC) has helped library customers find books. Devised by Melvil Dewey while working at the Amherst College library, the DDC system uses numbers and letters to identify and locate books. However some libraries, especially small ones, have begun to move away from the DDC to a more ”user-friendly” bookstore-style layout such as the BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) system. Some libraries are replacing their DDC system, others are using the BISAC-style system for a portion of their books, and yet others are using some combination of the two. When Manchester Community Library opens its doors in the fall, the non-fiction collection will combine the two methods and adopt a system referred to as “Glades.”

Darien Library in Darien, CT originated the “Glade” system of shelving the library collection. This bookstore-influenced system features broad subject areas that group similar areas of the Dewey Decimal System. Glade titles represent the various sections of the nonfiction collection, such as “Nature,” “Work” and “Play.”

The new Manchester Community Library (MCL) will have 11 glades and each one will consist of a number of subcategories. For example, the glade “Places” will include the subcategories “Travel Lit,” “Travel Guides,” and “Language”.” At the current Mark Skinner Library, the globetrotters among us have to search different parts of the collection (dictionaries are in the 400s, while travel guides are found in 914-917) to review all things concerned with travel; in the new library, all those materials will be shelved together. Dewey Decimal numbers will still provide library members with additional help in locating books within each subcategory.

It will come as no surprise that some people love the new systems, believing them easy to use and helpful to library customers trying to become more self-sufficient at the library. Supporters also disparage the DDC, saying it reflects a distinctly white, male, Anglo-Saxon Christian view of the universe and is no longer relevant in the 21st century. (Proof of this can be seen in the number and names of categories in the DDC.) Some detractors feel BISAC, based on words, will be more difficult for non-English readers; and others feel it “dumbs down” the library. Major concerns for many in the library field are the effectiveness of the new systems for large libraries and the need to ensure there is consistency throughout the field in the way that books are categorized.

One thing that our MSL librarians agree upon is that good signage will be essential in creating a user-friendly experience for the library members. Color-coding will also be employed to make navigation easier.

Whether pro or con, most libraries are in agreement that two major goals of libraries are bringing more people into libraries and encouraging the use of all library resources. Local library members will be able to view the new library’s shelving system when the MCL opens later this fall.

]]>http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/08/19/rhyme-time-for-tots-2/feed/0“Legacy of a Library” by Shawn Harrington, Digital Archivist, Manchester Historical Societyhttp://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/08/19/legacy-of-a-library-by-shawn-harrington-digital-archivist-manchester-historical-society/
http://markskinnerlibrary.org/2014/08/19/legacy-of-a-library-by-shawn-harrington-digital-archivist-manchester-historical-society/#commentsTue, 19 Aug 2014 19:01:25 +0000http://markskinnerlibrary.org/?p=4511The Mark Skinner Library has stood at the corner of West Road and Main Street in Manchester Village since its opening in 1897, a testament to the strength of the founders who created this Manchester institution. Mrs. Henry Willing (Frances Skinner Willing) announced her plans to build a permanent library in the village in 1893, and began by purchasing the land from David K. Simmonds, owner and editor of the Manchester Journal.

Mrs. Willing was the daughter of Illinois Judge Mark Skinner. Her grandfather, Vermont Gov. Richard Skinner, was the son of General Timothy Skinner, who was born and educated (including law school) in Litchfield, Connecticut, before taking up residence in Manchester in 1799. The Skinner family had strong political and philanthropic ties to both Chicago, Illinois, and Manchester, always returning every year to the family home just south of the Equinox Hotel.

Once the land for the library was secured, D.K. Simmonds moved his home –literally – across West Road (in 1964, the home became the Reluctant Panther Inn), and preparations for the project were in full swing by the spring of 1895. The library’s inaugural board consisted of eleven members; all but four were Vermont residents. Judge Loveland Munson, Samuel G. Cone, Franklin H. Orvis, Jesse N. Hard, Allen L. Graves, Eli J. Hawley and D.K. Simmonds represented Manchester, with Mrs. Francis Willing, Henry Willing, Edward S. Isham, and Ambrose Cramer of Chicago rounding out the board. No expense was spared for this project, from its fine oak furniture and wood trim to the pieces of art collected from all over the world that adorned the interior.

Opening exercises held July 7, 1897 were attended by prominent citizens and visitors and were presided over by Rev. Dr. P. S. Pratt of Dorset. The event included a performance by the Misses Hoyt, a ceremonial address, and a poem read for the occasion by Ms. Sarah Cleghorn. At the library’s opening, there were over 12,000 titles in the catalog, including much of Judge Skinner’s personal library.

The library was a private entity, and thus Mrs. Willing supervised nearly every aspect of its operation, from new titles in the catalog (by her mandate, books could only be purchased with the income from library card fees), subjects of said titles (she specifically relayed her dislike of French fiction and drama), to days and hours of the library’s operation.

She further decreed that all subjects in the catalog would be consistent with her own father’s personal library, prioritized in order as follows: Political history, physical geography, and natural history of Vermont, New England and America. As no part of the endowment was to be used toward buying books, she supplemented with gifts and other expensive publications. Additionally, any budgetary deficit incurred from library operations was met by her personally.

Mrs. Willing was in poor health, and though she could not visit the library often, she corresponded with the librarians regularly until her death in 1903, which was followed shortly by her husband Henry’s in 1904. They had both provided generously for the Mark Skinner Library in their wills, and the library ran unchanged for many years after.

In the summer of 1905, the Willing family suffered the tragic loss of Francis’s daughter, Evelyn P. Willing when she and her fiancée, New York City’s deputy police commissioner Harris Lindsley, died in an automobile crash. They were passengers en route from Manchester to Williamstown, Mass., when the vehicle they were in was struck at a railroad crossing by Rutland Railroad passenger train 366, traveling from North Bennington to Bennington. The two young lovers, who were to be married the following week, were killed instantly; the driver and another passenger escaped unharmed. The Mark Skinner Library was transformed into a funeral parlor, with the bodies of Ms. Willing and Mr. Lindsley laying in state under the watch of a New York City Police honor guard before finally being laid to rest in the Willing plot in Dellwood Cemetery.

The historical success of the Mark Skinner Library is firmly rooted in the people of the local community. Judge Loveland Munson served as president for 24 years until his death in 1921, Claude Rich for 42 years, G. Murray Campbell from 1963-75, followed by Oscar Johnson’s 21 years of service. The librarians were no exception – following the first two librarians, Clara Hemmenway and Clara Chamberlain, Mrs. Eleanor Eggleston served from 1908-1919 followed by Anna Buck whose tenure of 48 years, 1916 – 1967 saw the library through eight U.S. Presidents, two World Wars, the Korean War and the Civil Rights movement. Gail Rice served from 1982-2001, bringing the Mark Skinner Library into the 21st century. Ellen Boyer succeeded Mrs. Rice in 2001, taking the Mark Skinner library from a private institution to an open and free library supported by fund-raising, taxpayers​ and its endowment in 2003. The board of MSL has town appointed members to represent the community interests.

The world has changed in the past 117 years, and the library has had to adjust accordingly to the times. By the mid 1940s, the library was compelled to make a public appeal for funds, which was promptly met. A substantial contribution that ended this campaign was made by Mrs. Parmelee Prentice, in memory of her late husband, Ezra Parmelee Prentice. Mr. Prentice, the nephew of Edward S. Isham, married Alta Rockelfeller (daughter of John D.) in 1901. Their daughter Mary, whose married name was Mary Porter, was a well-known local philanthropist and also made significant contributions to Mark Skinner Library during her lifetime.

Anne Eliza Isham (Lizzie), daughter of Edward and cousin of Ezra Parmelee Prentice, was a member of the original Committee of Administration, and perished on April 15, 1912, while traveling from Paris to New York aboard the H.M.S. Titanic. She was one of five First Class women lost at sea; her memorial in the Isham family plot stands across the drive from Alta Rockefeller Prentice and her husband Ezra at Dellwood.

Today the Mark Skinner Library is a free public institution, where computers and books on CD share the room with leather-bound books, their stamped library plates noting the names of their donors – Munson, Orvis, Hawley, Skinner, Willing, Prentice – on shelves where the books are part of the history.

In the fall of 2014 Manchester’s public library, with its vast catalog of literature, multi-media and staff, will move to a state-of-the-art facility in Manchester Center. After 117 years, Francis Skinner Willing’s original vision will take on a new life and a new name rooted in a rich legacy sowed long ago. The Manchester Community Library will launch a new era of experience in imagination, functionality, learning, and will be a gathering place for generations to come. The Manchester Historical Society will have a home in the new library, where it will continue its mandate to collect, preserve, interpret and present the story of Manchester, Vermont, through the research collection, exhibitions, programs, and publications.

MANCHESTER — “Fantastic” was the word Gov. Peter Shumlin kept saying when touring the new Manchester Community Library Tuesday afternoon.

Manchester is currently served by the Mark Skinner Library, but in October, Betsy Bleakie, executive director of the library, said all services will be moving into the new building on Cemetery Avenue.

Shumlin came to visit the project, which he said is the largest library project in the state in the last 20 years.

“Congratulations to all of you for making this happen,” Shumlin said. “This is something that will bless this community for 300 years.”

Bleakie, who led the tour with the help of Christine Miles, co-chair of the capital campaign, noted that the project has been completely funded by private philanthropy. Walking through the building, Shumlin looked all around and listened while Bleakie pointed out different features of the library. After walking through the front doors, she led Shumlin and the group to the cafe commons, an area to sit and talk, while also offering snacks.

Shumlin noticed the light installation in the building, which is still being finished, and wanted to know more about the energy efficiency of the building. Built using LEED Silver standards, the building includes high efficiency windows and an air source heat pump, Bleakie said.

Walking into the main portion of the building, Bleakie pointed out how it will house most of the books, displayed she said in a way that is more like a bookstore than a traditional library. Along with books and places to read and work, this is also where technology — such as computers — will be found in the library.

One of the unique portions of the library is the community room, which will be a revenue stream for the library, Bleakie said.

“That is so smart,” Shumlin said.

Chris Cole, construction manager of the project, said this project has created around 80 to 100 jobs in the area. Cole told Shumlin there were around 25 contractors that worked on the project, from electricians to masons.

“It’s been a joint effort,” Cole said.

In the lower level of the library, Bleakie highlighted the conference room and touchdown work spaces. The workstations can be rented for a period of time for people who work from home or need an office area.

“The conference room can be utilized for all education levels,” Bleakie said.

Shumlin wanted to understand more about the process of getting to this place. When Miles was library president, a strategic plan was created, because she said the Mark Skinner Library building at 48 West Road was getting older and the endowment was getting picked away. They had an idea, but it would take funding.

“We received an unbelievable gift,” Miles said.

A bequest of $2.5 million from Lyn Hoyt helped kick start the project, Miles said, and every step that has been made has gotten the project to where it is now. All in, from strategic plan to the building of the new library, the project has taken almost 10 years, she said.

Throughout the tour, Bleakie and Miles, as well as others, stressed the community aspect of the library. Bleakie likes to refer to the new Manchester library as a community center. With this aspect of community in Mind, Miles said it was important for the library to be an anchor of the northern portion of downtown and to be in walking distance of school.

“When I talk to people, once they hear it is more of a community resource center as opposed to just a place to check out books, they get it,” Miles said.